China’s largest search portal has started up a Japan branch named “Baidu.jp” in an attempt to further expand its global share. Baidu already handles 70% share of search engine traffic in China, and is number three worlwide after Yahoo and Google, which currently dominate in Japan.

Baidu’s aim for the time being is to target users with high IT literacy that use several engines in parallel, for example, using its engine as their “second search engine.” Highlighting Baidu’s search accuracy toward heavy Internet users, the company aims to gradually gain recognition for its search engine.

Refraining from hosting advertisements on the search site for the time being, the company will be devoted to increasing user traffic.

According the a Baidu spokesman, their search engine’s strength lies in its ability to handle Chinese characters.

“In contrast to our rivals that are trying to develop a global standard search algorithm, we give weight to the development of algorithms optimized for local cultures,” [said Robin Li, the company's chairman and CEO]. “I always tell my employees to ‘look at local aspects, not global aspects.’”

Baidu’s search algorithm focuses on analyzing users’ click actions after search results are shown.

“If the algorithm is based on keyword frequency and link popularity, the websites of companies that are good at SEO (search engine optimization) measures will be ranked highest, which are not necessarily the websites that users are after,” Li said.

I wonder how many people in Japan and elsewhere will want to use a search engine from a repressive Communist country, which boasts of its ability to track its users activities. . .